FAQ’s

Riverside Escrow bank with one of the UK’s leading banks. We have declared a trust over our dedicated client escrow bank account. The fact that we operate a client account means that client funds are segregated from our own funds. The trust declared over our client account provides additional peace of mind.

PLEASE NOTE: Riverside Escrow’s role in transactions is limited to the holding and release of funds or assets once the relevant escrow conditions are met. Riverside Escrow is not the owner/ provider of the asset / investment in respect of which the escrow service is provided. 

IMPORTANT: To find out more on how to protect yourself against investment scams and escrow scams, see the “How can I avoid investment scams and escrow scams” and “Can you advise me on how to best invest my money” FAQs.

You can also see our Privacy Policy which details the way in which Riverside Escrow Limited collects and makes use of your personal data.  

Whilst we are authorised the Financial Conduct Authority, we are authorised as a Payment Institution – and are not authorised to give financial advice on how to invest money. A list of financial advisors is available on the FCA’s website: www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmSearchForm.do

IMPORTANT: The Financial Conduct Authority publishes useful information on how to protect yourself against scams and also publishes details of known and suspected scams – for further details, please see https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/protect-yourself-scams and https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-firms-individuals 

Once you have contacted us, either via the ‘contact us’ enquires box or by phone, we will request some key information from you in regards to your escrow needs. This allows us to determine the best way we can help you. We may ask to set up a phone appointment with you to discuss you needs further, or we may be able to give you a quote via email. This will depend on the type of services you require.

Once you are happy with the quote and let us know that you would like to go ahead, we will send out a Terms of Business Letter (TOBL) for you to read and sign together with a request for the required AML/KYC information and documentation. The TOBL details our services and what information and  documents we will require to begin the escrow process. Once we have received the signed TOBL and the information and documents from you, we will perform our compliance checks and if they are satisfactorily completed your escrow account will be open. 

Typically we allow for 3 – 5 working days from the time of satisfactory completion of compliance checks (which we start after we receive the signed TOBL and the requested Identity Documents) to draft the Escrow Agreement. The time it takes to set up the agreement can vary depending on the nature of your needs and how quickly documents are returned to us. We aim to meet any needs in a timely manner. Once we have received the signed agreement from the client, the amount of time the agreement can be held for is completely individual depending on the client’s needs, and Riverside Escrow has no time limit for how long we can hold funds for. 

Riverside Escrow is currently set up to accept a wide range of deposit values. For further information, you can contact us to discuss your escrow needs and how we can accommodate them.  

We are able to accept payments in GBP. We are also able to arrange facilities to accept USD as well as Euro’s.

Escrow can be used in almost any situation that involves the transfer of funds or property from one party to another. Using an escrow service can offer peace of mind and assurance to all concerned parties. 

You can find further information the types of Escrow services we offer in our Escrow Services pages, or alternatively you can Contact Us to find out how we can help you with your escrow needs. 

PLEASE NOTE: Riverside Escrow’s role in transactions is limited to the holding and release of funds or assets once the relevant escrow conditions are met. Riverside Escrow is not the owner/ provider of the asset / investment in respect of which the escrow service is provided. 

IMPORTANT: To find out more on how to protect yourself against investment scams and escrow scams, see the “How can I avoid investment scams and escrow scams” and “Can you advise me on how to best invest my money” FAQs.

Riverside Escrow Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority Act under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 with registration number 920922 for the provision of payment services.

Please note that our authorisation with the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) applies only in relation to payment services transactions (principally transactions involving the holding and payment of funds), it does not relate to any other form of escrow service offered by us – for example where we hold real property. 

This means that the Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate us in respect of any escrow transactions other than payment services transactions.

As a result:

• we are not required to comply with the FCA rules in respect of services other than payment services;

• the FCA does not regulate us in respect of any escrow services other than payment services; 

• payment services are the only type of service offered by us that users of our services are able to complain to the FCA about; and  

• payment services are the only type of service offered by us that users of our services are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Services about.”

Riverside is registered with HM Revenue & Customs as a ‘money transmitter’ under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 with registration number 12784619.

Information Commissioner’s Office: Riverside Escrow Limited is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office with registration number ZA132453. You can check the register of data controllers here: https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search

All client funds are held in our Riverside Escrow Client account. Riverside Escrow bank with one of the UK’s leading banks. We have declared a trust over our dedicated client escrow bank account. The fact that we operate a client account means that client funds are segregated from our own funds. The trust declared over our client account provides additional peace of mind.

Any funds transferred to Riverside Escrow as part of an Escrow Agreement, will be held in our client account until the agreed conditions set out in the relevant Escrow Agreement have been met.

Riverside Escrow Services offers a range of fee options that enable us to offer high quality services at a cost effect price. Our fees are calculated on a bespoke basis that reflects each individuals escrow needs. 

For a bespoke quote you can Contact Us directly and our team will be happy to help. 

AML / KYC Checks are mandatory checks that we must carry out when entering into a relationship with all clients. KYC stands for Know Your Client checks, and are used to ensure that clients are who they are claiming to be. Riverside Escrow are obligated to carry out these checks as part of our requirements as a Payment Service Provider.

As part of these checks we also carry out AML checks and source of funds and source of wealth checks. AML stands for Anti-Money Laundering checks. We use a search provider that is powered by Experian to carry out our checks on individuals and Companies. These are used to confirm the Identity of our clients. 

If you would like to discuss our KYC / AML process further please do not hesitate to contact us. 

An escrow agreement is one entered into by the parties who have an interest in the money being paid into our escrow account or the property being held by us.

It is a document which we will produce. It will include important clauses such as:

• who is advancing funds or property; 
• who will ultimately receive funds or property; 
• the conditions attached to when the monies or property are to be released to the recipient; and
• the basis upon which the monies paid in to the escrow account or the property held by us in escrow can be returned to the sender

We are able to transfer funds abroad provided the project falls within the scope of our own regulatory permissions. For more information please contact us. 

Any funds will earn interest at the applicable rate from time to time. Who is to receive the benefit of this interest will be governed by the terms of the escrow agreement.

Riverside Escrow is registered with HM Revenue & Customs as a ‘money transmitter’ under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 with registration number 12784619.

No. Riverside Escrow is not a firm of solicitors.

Please note that Riverside Escrow is not a firm of solicitors, and does not fall within the remit of the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Law Society.